


Snow And Powdered Sugar

by VirusError



Series: The End To The Begining The Begining To The End [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: 12 Days of Christmas, ALL THE FLUFF, Big Brother Diego Hargreeves, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Dinner, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Lights, Christmas Morning, Christmas Music, Christmas Presents, Christmas Tree, Diversity Of Religion, Family Fluff, For my own Fanfiction XD, Fortune Cookies, Gen, Good Sibling Allison Hargreeves, How Do I Tag, Ice Skating, Judaism, No Incest, Not Luther friendly, Number Five Hates The Cold, Number Five | The Boy Acts His Age, Number Five | The Boy Gets A Hug, Number Five | The Boy-centric, Paganism, Representation My Peeps, Snow Angels, Snowball Fight, Soft Diego Hargreeves, Soft Number Five | The Boy, Some comic book elements, Sorry Not Sorry, Spoilers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:54:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VirusError/pseuds/VirusError
Summary: Holidays are around the corner and the Hargreeves siblings realise it's been almost 45 years since Five has last celebrated Christmas. The sibling's attempt to make christmas enjoyable for the young 13-year-old.Or12 days of christmas but with the Hargreeves😊Updates: Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and New year's day (in the mornings MST around 6-8)
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves/Eudora Patch, Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz, Number Five | The Boy & Diego Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Mr. Pennycrumb, Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Everyone, The Hargreeves Family
Series: The End To The Begining The Begining To The End [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024918
Comments: 14
Kudos: 44





	1. Rockin Around The Christmas Tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hargreeves decorate a christmas tree!!🎄

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from- Rockin' around the Christmas tree by Brenda lee
> 
> Okay, we're gonna do this every day ready my peoples.
> 
> "On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree" 
> 
> Yaaaaaaaaay First day is up 
> 
> Also as I mentioned in my other Fic this actually follows in the series I'm writing and I have about 8 different parts planned out so there are spoilers for "The Rain Before The Rainbow" only because I was expecting the chapters to be like 1 to 3k words long but now I'm writing them A LOT longer. So by this time I was expecting to already have part 3 of the series out but I'm still making my way through part One BUT I promise as you continue the story the mentions of things in this Christmas special will began to make sense.
> 
> Enjoy!!!!

Five (POV)

He didn't take notice when light sweaters were replaced by heavy coats while scarfs appeared around everyone's necks and mittens covered their hands.

Hot chocolate and store-bought sugar cookies were served by Grace rather than iced tea and small triangular shaped sandwiches. Candy canes and mint-flavored candies were offered to Five but not his siblings at every business he stepped foot into. 

The words "for the kid" often spoken after the plastic-wrapped, small red and white swirled cane-shaped candy was shoved into his hands by either Diego, Allison, Vanya, Klaus, or Ben. Five didn't complain but always received a small taunt from one of the elder siblings about how "cute he looked" as he sucked on and enjoyed the minty treat when they dragged Five along on their activities.

Five often stopped in front of Vanya's room as Christmas carols could be heard being played on her violin rather than her normal orchestral music. Diego was gone more than usual with longer days and on his usual off days for " Charity work" as he said. 

Allison was busy making plans to go out and see Claire while Ben and Klaus were seen running around the house hanging up colorful lights and brightly colored streamers or tinsel. Five knew about the Holidays but they had never celebrated like this as kids or were involved in festivities of any kind.

After dinner one night it was the first Sunday of December, Allison stopped everyone from leaving the kitchen including Luther.

"Nope no one's leaving, we all need to set up the Christmas tree," Her smile was directed at all the siblings as the others aside from him and Luther seemed to agree. 

"Doesn't mom or Pogo usually set it up every year?" Everyone's eyes looked towards Five confused as a "oh right" was muttered out from Vanya.

"When was the last time you celebrated Christmas Five, or any Holiday for that matter?" Five remembered from when they were all 13 but that was about it. 

Five shrugged his shoulders, "The Temps held a small Christmas party one year to congratulate such a high number of missions we were able to complete….. I stayed for a couple of minutes but was sent out to Stockholm, Sweden 1792." 

All the siblings remained quiet," so….you were sent to kill someone…..on Christmas?!" Klaus looked at Five like he had just killed someone…...which he has but- 

"Assassinate, and Anckarström had a change of mind so I had to shoot king Gustav III and make sure he got framed for his assassination." Five said this very nonchalantly but realised how easy it was to talk about people he had killed.

Allison walked over to him, "Well you don't have to kill any people this year, just help us decorate a Christmas tree." She booped his nose and quickly ran back to the entrance of the kitchen laughing as Five sent her a glare.

"Well then let's go to the living room we can set it up in there," Diego gestured upstairs as all pairs of 7 feet ( and 1 pair of 4 paws) began to make their way up the flights of staircases.

"Hold up! If we're gonna do this properly, everyone change into your pyjamas, I always had Claire and Patrick do this." 

Diego laughed at how excited Allison was," you do realise Five is the only one who gets into pyjamas anymore, we all just wear sweats, t-shirts, or in Klaus' case just boxers." Five punched Diego in the arm at his comment about him as Allison started talking again.

"Something you sleep in is still considered pyjamas, now get changed," she shooed them away as she went to her room to get changed. Five blinked to his room and walked over to his dresser and pulled out his pyjamas. He kicked off his shoes and placed his belt, tie, and socks in one pile and in the other, the rest of his clothes on his bed before sliding on his shirt and pants. He walked down the staircase as he finished the last button waiting for the others. 

Diego came out in a t-shirt and sweats while Ben and Vanya had hoodies and sweats on. Allison came out in her nightgown she usually wore as they all waited for Klaus and Luther. Both girls immediately looked away as Klaus came out of his room in nothing but underwear. His usual habit of walking around in boxers was tolerable but this was underwear that showed well…..EVERYTHING.

"Geezus Klaus," Five pinched the bridge of his nose as Diego marched forward and grabbed Klaus by his arm dragging him back into his room. The siblings heard the short argument and banter between the two brothers before Klaus walked out in a jumper and sweatpants that obviously didn't belong to him by how baggy they fit his petite frame. 

Klaus had his arms crossed over his chest as Diego pushed him to the others, "Your no fun Dee." They all waited a couple of minutes but there was no sight of Luther.

Allison let out a frustrated sigh before she turned back to the others with a smile, "Come on let's go set up the tree." They all started to walk down the hall towards the staircase when they noticed Ben wasn't following them. They all looked back as Ben was still waiting there, "What about Luther?" 

Diego walked back over to him and put his arm over Ben's shoulder leading him to the rest of the siblings, "Come on, he's just being a prick, Ben." 

All 6 siblings and Mr.Pennycrumb made their way down the main staircase into the living room. Vanya went over with Diego as they lit the fireplace and replaced the wood. He, Allison, and Ben started setting up the tree, while Klaus blasted whatever Christmas music he could find on the radio. The other 3 joined them when the tree was fluffed up and ready to be decorated.

"When are you heading out to see Claire?" Diego asked Allison as Klaus and Vanya finished wrapping the silver and blue tinsel around the tree.

Allison picked up the string of lights and handed the other end to Five, "Next Sunday is my flight, I had her for Christmas last year so this year he gets her." 

Five looked up at Allison from where he was stringing the lights at the bottom of the tree, "You're not gonna be here for Christmas?" Five didn't realise how much of a kid he sounded like till he heard Klaus cooing at him.

"Awwwww he does care," Klaus pinched his cheek while the others smiled and laughed. Five slapped Klaus's hand away as Allison started to speak, "No hon I'm just gonna be out to LA for a couple of days then I'll be back." 

Allison passed her end of the strand of lights to Klaus so he could finish wrapping it around the very top of the tree. Five was handed a shiny red ornament by Vanya as they unpacked the color variety of Baubles, some matte, others covered in sparkles, and the rest with a luster like he was holding.

They divided up the tree to decorate Five and Vanya covered the bottom, Allison and Ben got the middle section of the tree, while Diego and Klaus decorated the tallest part of the tree.

"Are you gonna celebrate with Eudora? Diego," Vanya asked as she handed Five another ornament, which was blue and sparkly. Five hung it up and immediately went to wipe his hands which were now covered with glitter on his pants. A little bit of it rubbed off but most of it stuck to his hands.

'Great'

"Yeah, we already decided we're just gonna have dinner at her place the day before Christmas eve." Klaus nudged Diego with his elbow and his smirk which meant he was up to no good.

"Come on Diego you're not gonna have some hot Christmas sex," Everyone, especially Diego groaned at Klaus.

"I really would rather not hear about Diego's sex life, Klaus," Five stated matter of factly as he placed another ornament.

Diego turned to Klaus, "That's for me and Dora to know and you not to, Klaus." Klaus' eyes widened, "so that's a yes! Gasp Diego you-." 

Diego's hand immediately covered Klaus' mouth as Klaus mumbled something under his hand. Almost immediately Diego pulled his hand away screaming "ew" while Klaus laughed as Diego wiped his hand on his pants.

Allison shook her head at the two boys before talking to Klaus, "What about you Klaus?"

He immediately opened his mouth but was cut off when Allison raised her hand, "Not your sex life dear. I mean are you going to go celebrate with Dave?" 

All the siblings looked towards Klaus as he tilted his head with a confused look on his face, "Ohhhh He doesn't celebrate Christmas, he's Jewish…. He invited me to go over for one day but I don't wanna ruin anything." 

"What do you mean one day?" Vanya asked while putting on the last of the ornaments at the bottom.

"Oh, he celebrates Hanukkah, it goes on for 8 days, he was explaining to me how each day is something different so one of those days he wanted me to come over." Klaus slid the last ornament for him and Diego on the top branch as they waited for Ben and Allison to finish.

"You aren't going to go over?" Diego asked Klaus as the Séance ran over and changed the music, Baby it's cold outside started playing as he sauntered back over to them.

Klaus shrugged his shoulders at Diego's question, "I don't know his religion or customs all that much, I don't want to show up and be disrespectful or anything." 

Five never thought he'd hear the day when Klaus was worried about his actions on somebody else. This still was the same guy who had zero filters and had just walked out in front of all his siblings with nothing but underwear on.

He knew he loved Dave though if someone had made Klaus self-conscious over something he knew it was for a reason.

"Just show up like you, I doubt he would want anything else, Klaus he's a nice guy," Klaus looked over at Ben as Allison hung the last ornament in total.

"He's got a point bro, as I said before he's a special one being able to deal with your crazy ass," Diego nudged Klaus. Five stood up from where he was kneeling on the floor with Vanya as Grace and Pogo walked into the living room both carrying trays.

"Hot chocolate and homemade gingerbread cookies for everyone," they both set the trays down on the coffee table as muttered strings of thank you's were heard from all the siblings.

Five picked up a gingerbread cookie and bit into it as everyone else grabbed a hot chocolate.

"You and that sweet tooth of yours," everyone smiled at Five from Diego's comment as he quickly finished off the cookie he barely started eating, handing a small piece to Mr.Pennycrumb.

Five was gonna grab another one but quickly decided against it and instead picked up the mug of hot chocolate.

"I do not have a sweet tooth Diego, if that were the case I wouldn't drink my coffee black," he wouldn't admit it but he most definitely has a sweet tooth but coffee was the only exception to not being drowned in sugar.

Diego set his mug down and held up his hands in defense before walking back over to the tree followed by the rest of them. 

They all grabbed a couple of silver-colored bells to hang up being there were only so much so the tree didn't look overcrowded.

"What about your little crush Five, you gonna do something with her?" Diego nudged him as Five tied one of the bells to Mr.Pennycrumb's collar by his name tag.

Five threw the other bell that was in his hand at Diego, It hit him dead center on his head. Five knew Diego could have easily redirected it but probably knew Five would have just kept trying to hit him.

"I don't have a crush, Diego," Five said his words through gritted teeth.

"Okay, your friend then, are you gonna do something with her," Five reached over and hung his last bell by one of the green ornaments.

He shrugged his shoulders at Diego's question, "I think she celebrates differently, I'm not sure." 

He looked up at everyone's confused faces before quickly talking again, "She's polytheistic, so she worships many gods and such….. She's a pagan actually but she doesn't like to use that term because people immediately call her a witch or something." 

"Well ask her bud, doesn't hurt to know how she celebrates or if she celebrates at all," Diego walked to the coffee table and came back with his hot chocolate in one hand and offering a cookie to Five with his other hand. Five took the cookie from Diego, hoping the other siblings didn't see him there nibbling on the cookie as they finished hanging up the rest of the bells.

Diego took a sip from the mug and quickly realised he grabbed the wrong cup as it was Klaus'.

He hastily put the mug back down and swallowed what was in his mouth, "Klaus! You spiked your hot chocolate." Klaus raised up his hand using two fingers while closing one eye, "just a smidge." He smiled at Diego as the others laughed and shook their heads.

"That tasted a bit more than a smidge, Klaus," Klaus just shrugged his shoulders at Diego then continued to hang his part of the bells up.

Five had already moved on to another cookie by the time everyone finished hanging up the bells. Five was gonna reach for his 4th cookie but Diego nudged Five's hand away from the plate and pushed his hot chocolate towards him instead. He glared at Diego but took his mug of hot chocolate which was still sweet but not as much as the cookies.

Five grabbed a handful of the marshmallows for the hot chocolate and dumped them into his cup as Diego gave him another glare. It was definitely more than 2 or 3 marshmallows, more like 10 maybe more. He took a sip from his cup and smiled his usual smug smile at Diego as he set the cup down and walked back over to the others. 

A couple of boxes of candy canes were laid out in front of them as they took them out of the packaging and began to hang them on the tree. Five grabbed one of the more colorful candy canes, peeled off the plastic, and stuck on end in his mouth as he continued to hang the others up.

"Five, no more sweets you just had dinner you're gonna make yourself sick," Diego scolded him as Five shrugged his shoulders still eating the candy cane. Five quickly found out he preferred the colorful candy canes to the standard peppermint-flavored ones because of how sweet they were.

He heard a sigh come from Diego as he looked over at Allison hoping she'd help him with their stubborn brother. Allison laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "You're the eldest here Diego."

Diego scoffed, "Whatever, if you have a stomach ache later, see how much I care." Five took the candy cane out of his mouth, "I know my limits, Diego I am well over 20 years older than all of you." 

"Says the 13-year-old," Klaus muttered under his breath. Ben gave him a scared look, as did Vanya before a candy cane hit Klaus square in the head.

"Oww Five! You angry murderous gremlin!" 

Five turned to him, "murderous What?" 

"Gremlin? You know from the movie," Vanya said to him. Five was still confused at what they were trying to get at.

"Didn't we all watch that movie together?" Allison chipped in asking the question to the rest of the siblings.

"Not till we were 14, actually we had just turned 15 so it was just the 6 of us at that time," Ben said to them all putting his last candy cane on the tree.

Five rolled his eyes, "I don't even want to know what it is." 

Vanya laughed a little beside him where they were on the floor, "trust me you don't." 

Allison handed the skirt of the tree to Five and Vanya so they could put it on being that they were already on the floor. They all went back over to the table to drink the hot chocolate as they only had one more thing to place on the tree.

The star

"Who' gonna pace ta' 'tar?" Klaus asked with a mouthful of gingerbread. They all understood what he meant as they looked over at Allison who had more experience with the whole 'family decorating thing'.

She put down her cup, "We always did the youngest had to place the star on top." 

Everyone went quiet as Five who was just listening in on the conversation, not really paying attention finished up his candy cane. He took a sip of his hot chocolate and quickly realised they were all staring at him.

"Yes?" 

"The youngest has to place the star Fivey," Klaus smiled at him. Five immediately thought of Vanya but then realised why they were staring at him.

"I am older than all of you!" Five hissed at them.

"Yeah, yeah but you're physically and mentally 13 so go put the star on the tree Five," Diego picked up the star and held it out towards Five.

Five snatched it out of his hand and marched over to the tree, he quickly realised as he stood next to the tree that it was a little over 2 feet taller than him. There were no edges nearby where he could blink onto and have an easy reach to place the star either. All the other siblings walked over as they realised the same dilemma.

"See, the tree's too tall someone else can put the stupid star on the tree." Five turned towards everyone as he saw Diego's arms outstretched towards him.

"You are NOT picking me up," he said through gritted teeth ready to murder Diego. 

"Like I haven't picked you up before Five," Diego said still with his arms towards Five. Five knew what he meant as he quickly looked away from Diego and back towards the tree.

"Unless you want Klaus to attempt to pick you up, but not our fault if he drops you." Klaus shook his at Diego and Five, "I don't feel like being killed if I drop an angry Five." 

Five rolled his eyes as he was still clutching the star in one hand, "whatever." 

Diego bent down to his height so Five could wrap his arms around his neck and Diego could lift him up. Five was propped up on Diego's left arm which was under him and left his right arm free as he scooted closer to the tree. Five reached out to place the star but he still couldn't reach it.

"See, still can't reach it, Diego you're too short," He scoffed at Five and shook his head. "Says the short one….Maybe if you unhooked your arm from around my neck you could reach it."

Five looked and as Diego said his right arm was still holding on to Diego. He wasn't afraid of heights but he was scared of Diego dropping him almost 6 feet from the ground. Diego seemed to notice this as Five hesitantly loosened his grip and recoiled his arm from around Diego's neck.

"I'm not gonna drop you Five that's why I'm holding you and not Klaus," Diego said to him as an offended "Hey!" Could be heard behind them.

Five reached out as Diego with his other hand placed it on Five's hip so he wouldn't fall forward as he leaned towards the tree. He was able to reach it this time, placing the golden star on the highest point of the tree as a small bit of clapping and cheering could be heard from his siblings.

Five wasn't expecting what Diego did next as a joke and expected Five to react differently. As soon as Five's hand left the star Diego loosened his grip on Five letting him fall not more than a centimeter down before tightening his grip back on him.

Five knew Diego was just pretending to drop him, but his body said otherwise. Five felt his heart pick up as he let out a gasp, wrapping his legs around Diego's torso and both arms around his neck. Five buried his head in Diego's neck as he felt Diego's arms wrap around him, one under his thighs to support his weight and the other on his back.

Even though Diego had changed out of his work clothes Five still smelled his cologne as he muttered a string of "IhateyouIhateyouIhateyouIhateyou" where his face was buried in his neck. Diego's chest shook as he laughed at Five, slowly moving back down to the floor so Five could get down.

He kept his grip firm on Diego until he felt his feet touch the ground followed by punching Diego's chest as hard as he could. 

"Jerk," Five let go of Diego's shirt when he was sure his feet were touching the ground and walked back over to the coffee table. He looked over as Klaus went over, plugged in the lights, and switched them to the right setting so they would stay on at all times. 

"Ta-da!" Klaus held up jazz hands as all of the siblings watched from a couple of feet away. The lights lit up the room while also bouncing off the baubles and the bells making them look like colors they weren't or just that more vibrant.

Five resisted the urge to go grab another candy cane as they all relocated to the fireplace with hot chocolate in hand and the plate of cookies. Five and Allison sat in the two available chairs with Diego leaning behind Allison's and Mr.Pennycrumb was on his lap. While the other three siblings were crisscrossed on the floor in front of them.

Five finished off his hot chocolate way before the others which left him eating more than enough of the gingerbread cookies. He pretended not to notice Diego's glare at him every time he reached and grabbed another one, taking a bite out of it.

The heat of the hot chocolate and the fire collectively made Five drowsy. He didn't take note when he curled his legs up on the chair and rested his head on his arm that wasn't holding the half-eaten gingerbread cookie. 

Five closed his eyes still listening to the rambling of his siblings and the crackling and popping of the firewood. He could have sworn he only had his eyes closed for a little while until he felt someone's hand on his shoulder and realised his eyes felt heavier than before as he tried to pry them open.

"Hey, Five, bud wake up," Five quickly took notice of how nauseous he felt as he pried his eyes open, rubbing at them. Five moved his hand and looked at who was in front of him, the all too familiar clean-cut hair and scars, Five knew it was Diego.

He really shouldn't have eaten all those cookies

Five groaned at his stomach as he saw Vanya putting out the flame of the now dimly lit fireplace. He glanced down and over at where Allison had been sitting and saw her crouching by a sleeping Klaus trying to wake him up. Five caught a head of jet black hair in the corner of his eye as he looked over. Ben much like Klaus was asleep leaning back on the leg of the chair.

"You okay?" Five turned his attention back towards Diego as he attempted to get up. Five grabbed his stomach as his sudden movement made it ache more. He heard Diego sigh as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Five.

"Yeah, what did I say about the amount of sweets you were eating, Five….. Hm?" Five hated the look Diego was giving him because he knew he was right. Five slowly pushed himself to sit up, on the chair as he tried to avoid Diego's gaze.

'Stupid Diego' 

"I was gonna be nice and just carry you to your bed, but this is your damn fault. So get up," Five honestly wished Diego would just carry him to his bed, he felt like hurling every little move he made.

Vanya had walked over to Ben who was still beside his chair as Diego said that making her slightly giggle.

"Awww come on Diego cut him a little slack he's just being a kid," She softly shook Ben's shoulders trying to wake him up.

'He was still NOT a kid!'

It probably would have been smarter of him to say that later as right now Vanya was covering for him but he's just too stubborn.

"'M not a kid," his voice still drowsy as he pushed himself completely up on the chair so he was sitting upright, still holding his stomach.

He heard Diego sigh again, "Well then you're a 58-year-old man getting yelled at by your technically older brother. Now get up, you need to brush your teeth before bed." He normally would have argued before that 'he knows that' but right now he was just planning on slipping into bed. 

Five didn't budge, he really didn't want to move another inch.

"Come on, up you go," Diego gently grabbed Five's hands and pulled him up off the chair so he was standing in front of him. Diego couldn't blame him if he threw up all over him.

Diego put his hand on Five's back and began pushing him towards the main staircase, Mr.Pennycrumb following closely behind them. He felt every step up the stairs was making him closer and closer to spewing his stomach contents all over the tile floor. Diego pushed him towards the bathroom even out of Five's protest of just wanting to go to bed. 

He could have just blinked to his room, but he didn't have the energy and didn't actually wanna make himself puke. Five was pushed in front of the sink as he reached up in the cabinet for his toothbrush and toothpaste. Five felt Diego's hand leave his back as he stuck the toothbrush in his mouth. He glanced over and saw Diego walking away back towards the others.

Five kept looking over towards the door as each sibling passed by muttering a 'goodnight' to one another. He rinsed off his toothbrush sticking it back in the cup in the cabinet and reached for the mouthwash.

As he opened the bottle the smell of the chemically but also minty scent made him more nauseous. He hurriedly swished the mouthwash around his mouth and spit it into the sink as he saw Vanya in the entre of the doorway.

He looked over at her wiping his mouth on his pyjama sleeve, "You dropped this in the living room." She handed him a bright yellow flower with a little piece of the stem still attached, just enough to tuck behind one's ear.

He quickly grabbed it from her and held it in his hand, slightly twirling it between his thumb and index finger, "Thanks."

"No problem….. that girl is the one who gives you these all the time right?" Vanya pointed to the flower in his hands.

He nodded his head 

"Does she have a reason for them?" 

Five smiled to himself as he continued to look down at the flower, "every one of these has a meaning to her…….this one is a buttercup or Ranunculus if you wanna sound fancy, as she always says…. It symbolizes attractiveness and charm." 

He looked up and saw Vanya smiling at him, he gave her a small half-smile then looked back down as he put the flower back in his pocket where it once was.

He felt a hand on his head ruffling his hair, "goodnight Five." Vanya disappeared down the hall where they had all set up a new room for her, being her old one was taken over by Klaus.

Five leaned on the doorway of the bathroom, trying not to agitate his stomach anymore as a wave of nausea hit him that wasn't there a couple of seconds ago.

He brought his back of his hand to his mouth as he swallowed and waited for it to pass.

"You okay, Five," Diego walked down the walkway to the bathroom and stopped in front of Five. Five shook his head, not wanting to open his mouth out of fear of throwing up.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," Diego put his hand on Five's back as he barely stepped an inch forward from leaning on the door.

"You think you can walk to your room?" His voice had a bit of concern in it, but mostly sounded almost like Allison whenever she talked over the phone to claire.

Five hoped that all the others were already well confined into their own rooms as he shook his head at Diego's question, knowing what the elder was gonna do next.

Diego bent down and put his hands under Five's arms and slowly lifted him up. Five wrapped both arms around Diego's neck and laid his head down on his shoulder. Diego held him much like earlier when he pretended to drop him, except this time he wasn't clinging onto Diego for dear life.

"Didn't think so," Five didn't have the energy to fight back with Diego or make empty threats instead he let out what almost sounded like a groan.

The swaying of Diego walking made him even more drowsy than he was as he let his eyelids fall shut but still aware of what was happening. The light jingling of the bell he had tied on Mr.Pennycrumbs collar told him he was following them. He heard the stomping of feet finish on the staircase and the slight creaking sound his doorknob made probably from not being opened for many years.

He heard the click of his light switch, then all movement stopped as he felt Diego lay him down and pull his blankets over him.

Five opened his eyes as the side of his bed sunk in a little bit as Diego sat down beside him on his bed. He felt his slippers being slipped off his feet leaving them bare and saw Diego place the shoes which looked small in his hands, down on the floor by Fives bed. He glanced at what Diego went to grab on his nightstand, there was a mug with steam rising from it along with a tea bag beside the cup then a small wrapped hard candy that had the word 'ginger' printed on it.

Those things weren't there when he had changed into his pyjamas so they were probably placed sometime after.

"You knew," Five pointed to the things on his nightstand as Diego began to unwrap the hard candy.

"Of course I knew, here suck on this it'll help your stomach ache." Five tried to push away the pale golden hard candy that Diego was holding, "Five I'm serious eat it, it will help." Five could tell Diego was getting frustrated when he pushed it away from his mouth again.

"God, you are stubborn," Diego ran a hand through his hair as Five tried to sink more into his blankets, just wanting to go to sleep with Mr.Pennycrumb cuddled up next to him.

"Eat it and I'll leave you alone for the night," Diego was still holding the small ginger candy out to Five. He didn't want to be left alone, he just wanted to sleep. Five pulled his blankets more over his head as he tucked in on himself hoping his stomach would stop hurting.

"Open up, I'm not fighting with you anymore, Five," he shook his head from under his blankets as he felt Diego shift closer. His blanket was tugged from his grasp as Diego started tickling his sides.

"No no no Diego, please!" Five was laughing trying to squirm away from Diego still holding his stomach.

Diego stopped, smiling down at Five, "Then…. say ah." Five finally opened his mouth as he let Diego drop the ginger candy in while also pulling the blankets back over Five.

Diego stood up, turned off Five's lamp, and walked to the door, leaning on the doorway.

"You have fun decorating?" Five looked up at Diego from where he was buried under his blankets. He nodded his head as Diego smiled at him, "that's good……goodnight Five." Diego flicked off his lights and slowly shut his door, letting it softly click then his footsteps could be heard as he walked away.

Five pulled his blankets closer to him as he let the ginger candy melt in his mouth. He was still nauseous but it was helping to the point that he didn't feel like vomiting. He knew Diego was right and even had already expected Five to be sick to his stomach well before Five had even started eating the sweets. Five groaned as he slightly shifted his position on his bed.

He should've listened to Diego…….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Baubles- round ornaments usually hung on Christmas trees.
> 
> The Death of King Gustav the III is an actual assassination that happened, and the date and the one who assassinated him Anckarström is all real, the only part I made up was that he had a change of mind so that's why Five had to go to make sure the king got killed........yes I had to do a lot of research XD 
> 
> I had so much fun writing this one especially with Diego being such an older brother to the siblings (a headcanon which I love with a dying passion) AND more representation in different types of religion YESSSSS 👏👏
> 
> Also question for all you wonderful peeps........For those who celebrate Christmas when do you put up your tree and what ornaments do you put on it?
> 
> If you don't celebrate Christmas..... What do you celebrate and what are traditions you normally do? 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed 
> 
> ~~~~~VirusError🌸


	2. Turn The White Snow Red As Strawberries In The Summertime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego, Five, Ben, and Klaus go snow sledding 🌨️

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from- Winter White Hymal by Fleet Foxes
> 
> Okay okay ready
> 
> "On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree." 
> 
> Yaaaaaaay
> 
> Also sorry this came up late I have some medical conditios and the symptoms got bad Monday morning and their still bad as I'm writing this..... And I had a college project to finish with was very stressful and I'm glad it's over.
> 
> Anyways hope you guys enjoy and this turned out a little angsty than I would have liked and not very well written but it's something.

Five(pov)

The word 'cold' was an understatement when Five woke up and the fire escape outside his window was completely white. He slipped on his slippers and walked outside his door to look outside the big window between his and Ben's room with Mr.Pennycrumb following behind. Everything was blanketed with white, like a painter drew over everything leaving no color.

He turned as he saw Ben walk out of his room dressed and leaned on the window seal, "pretty huh?" 

Five didn't answer but returned his gaze back to the window as they both stood there silently for a minute. 

"We should go down for breakfast before Diego kills us," Ben smiled at Five and began walking down the staircase. Five stayed looking out the window for a couple of seconds before following down the staircase after Ben. The house was colder than usual as he picked up Mr.Pennycrumb blinking to the kitchen not wanting to take the last of the stairs. 

Everyone was dressed in casual clothes while Five was the only one still dressed in his pyjamas and he knew his hair was a mess of having just woken up. 

Five walked over and took his seat in front of where Allison usually sat as Diego walked over setting a plate and cup in front of him. Both girls and Luther were missing from the table which made Five confused if he was early or late for breakfast.

"Did you see the snow, Five?" Diego ruffled his hair as he drowned his french toast in syrup and stuffed a piece in his mouth. Five didn't bother swatting Diego's hand away, he was still half asleep and his hair was already messy as it was. 

Five nodded his head as he reached to the center of the table and grabbed a muffin off of a plate full of them. Muffins of all flavours, croissants, and other breakfast pastries all littered the kitchen table today as Mom was teaching them all how to bake bread and other things the previous day. 

It utterly ended how they all expected, Luther got frustrated almost immediately, Klaus quickly grew bored and ended up calling Dave and talking over the phone with him, Vanya had to leave midway through for rehearsal, Ben left to take a shower as Klaus dropped flour all over him, Allison gave up when nothing kept coming outright, he left when everyone kept cooing how cute he looked standing on a stool because he couldn't reach some things, and Diego of course who seems to have a knack for all this stuff quickly caught on and made everything almost perfect.

Five peeled back the covering from the chocolate muffin and took a bite out of it. He would never admit it out loud but he loved Diego's cooking probably even more than Grace's.

As Five set his muffin down on his plate Allison and Vanya both came into the kitchen completely dressed. Vanya had her violin on her back while Allison had her coat and purse in hand.

"Thank you for breakfast Diego, but me and Van have to leave. I have a photoshoot I'm late for and Vanya has practice," She grabbed a blueberry muffin for herself while grabbing and handing Vanya a strawberry one.

Diego gave them a thumbs up before speaking, "Van, coat it's still snowing and cold out." He gestured upstairs seeing as Vanya didn't have her coat on her, making her quickly scramble up the stairs to retrieve the items.

"Oh, By the way, Luther went out this morning to do some of the grocery shopping that needed to get done, then he said he had to grab something from the library for, and I quote "something important"," Ben explained Luther's absence to the siblings. 

"Well too important to have breakfast with you guys," Diego mumbled under his breath earning a slap on the shoulder from Allison and a nudge from Ben.

"What!"

"He's trying Diego," Allison gave him a pleading look as Vanya came back down into the kitchen with her coat in hand.

"Kay were leaving, bye boys don't burn down the house…..or just don't do anything stupid. Ben, I trust you to be in charge." Ben smiled at her and laughed while an offended "Hey!" Could be heard from Diego.

Allison laughed already halfway out the kitchen, "I'm kidding, but don't get into trouble and listen to Diego….Mwah, bye love you guys," she blew the siblings a kiss which only Klaus returned jokingly as she left.

Five rolled his eyes, "Why is it always you and Allison treating us like we're your kids, we were all born in the same year and same day." Five said taking a drink of his milk.

"We were numbered for a reason, Five," Diego responded, finally sitting down between him and Klaus with his breakfast.

"Yeah, based on how useful we were to dad." Five grimaced a bit at himself for referring to Reginald as dad, they never were allowed to call him that. Even now after everything, Five expected someone to yell at him for referring to him as that.

"That too, but we were all born a couple of minutes apart from each other if you guys remember." Five remembered, he still couldn't believe he and Luther were twins.

"We kinda did always follow our number system though, of 1 being the eldest and 7 the youngest," Ben chimed in while cutting a piece of his french toast off.

"Enough about that old hag of a father, we need to go enjoy the snow!" Klaus threw his hands up into the air to emphasize as the other three brothers stopped and looked at him with a blank stare.

"......No?" Klaus pouted, sticking out his bottom lip at the rest of the brothers.

"Sorry Bud, I have some paperwork I have to finish up asap," Diego said while taking a bite out of his bacon.

"Have Ben go with you," Ben looked up at Diego with the usual expression that he usually gives to Klaus making Diego raise his hands in defense.

Klaus turned his pout to Ben, "Pleeeease Ben, I already know Fivey's not gonna wanna go." 

'Whoever said he didn't want to go' 

Five felt almost like they were kids again when they would leave each other out when playing with the others. Five just rolled his eyes at Klaus's conversation with Ben.

'No, he did NOT want to play in the snow…..'

Ben sighed, "Fine, just let me-." Ben was cut off when he was suddenly yanked from his chair and breakfast.

"Fantastic let's go!" Klaus jumped up from his chair as he dragged Ben out of the kitchen before anyone could speak. Diego shook his head and called after them, "Put warm clothes on first Klaus." 

A distant 'okay' could be heard up the stairs where Five assumed both brothers were in Klaus' room. Five didn't understand why the siblings immediately excluded him from certain activities, but it dawned on him how much he pushed them away whenever they DID try to include him in everything.

"You okay?" Diego's voice made his head shoot up from his plate he didn't realise he was staring at. He had been spaced out and just poking at his food on his plate for a couple of minutes it seemed as Diego was already cleaning up his own dish and the others.

"You finish with your breakfast bud?" Diego motioned at Five's plate which Five could see how the syrup stuck to the plate was already cold. Five nodded his head, picking up his plate and walking over to where Diego was standing at the sink. He downed the rest of his milk that was in the glass and set it down on the counter, beside the plate wiping the residue off his mouth.

He began to pull up his sleeves so he could rinse off his dishes before Diego started already washing them for him.

"I could have washed those you know," he said, trying to glare at Diego, but he doubted he looked intimidating in baby blue pyjamas and with unbrushed hair. 

"A thank you would be nice, and It's fine I got it Five." Diego's playful tone with Five assured him he wasn't serious as he rolled his eyes at him walking out of the kitchen.

"Whatever Thanks," Five bent down and picked up Mr.Pennycrumb as he made his way to the foyer. He shivered as he stepped closer to the window, he wasn't a fan of the cold but he didn't dare tell his siblings knowing they would coddle him on something else.

All the curtains were rolled up, making it where Five could see outside. Being as small as he was, he sat on the ledge on the window watching as small snowflakes still fell to the ground or landed on the window. His warm breath made the part of the window closest to him cloud up, reminding him of their childhood.

Their enjoyment and entertainment in winter were often found when the temperatures dropped and snow fell. Handprints and little designs traced by their index finger quickly filled the windows. They would do it for hours on end or until they were caught by Reginald making them stand in order numbers 1 through 7 as he lectured them.

Five tucked his legs up on the window seal as he breathed directly on the window. He grabbed Mr.Pennycrumb's paw and placed it in the condensation on the window making a small paw appear. Putting the paw back down, he used his finger to trace the word 'Mr.P' next to the paw.

In the distance outside, Five noticed Ben get hit in the face with a snowball as Klaus flopped back on the ground laughing. Five felt the side of his mouth tug up a little but paid no attention to it.

'Idiots'

"Are you being all depressed by the window or something," Diego leaned up against the window across from Five as he watched the two outside.

"No…... Just watching these two imbeciles," as he said that Klaus in return got hit with a snowball making him tumble back on the ground. Five couldn't help the smile that crept upon his face as Diego also laughed at the sight.

They stayed there watching as the two messed around outside before Diego broke the silence. "Go get your coat and winter stuff on, and brush your hair," Diego patted his shoulder as he turned around to the main staircase. 

Five raised his eyebrow as he slid down off the window seal, "what happened to your 'Very important paperwork'." Five made quotations around the words with one hand as the other held Mr.Pennycrumb.

"It can wait a couple of hours, now hurry up and get dressed." 

Five blinked upstairs to his room, setting Mr.Pennycrumb down before walking over to his closet and opening it. Towards the far right, he pulled out his coat that he hadn't seen or worn in years. Dust was collected on the navy blue colored material and the familiar crest on the upper left breast side of the coat. Shaking it off He threw it on his bed before reaching up and grabbing his uniform and tie to change into from his pyjamas.

Quickly changing he returned back downstairs and started getting his scarf and gloves on while he waited for Diego. He folded the maroon scarf like they were taught so many years ago and slid the small black gloves on. 

Diego came down the stairs and slipped on his shoes by the door, shooting a glance towards Five, "I forget you don't own a pair of pants." 

Five looked down at his bare knees being he was wearing shorts and knee-high socks. He really didn't own a pair of pants aside from his pyjama pants.

"Let's go," Five followed after Diego as he grabbed his keys and went outside. Five scooped Mr.Pennycrumb up in his arms as the crunching of the snow could be heard from their boots. It was a lot colder and peaceful than Five remembered it being in the apocalypse.

"Hey! Klaus, Ben come on," Diego yelled to both brothers as he gestured over to the car. They both ran over to Diego and Five as Klaus was wiping snow off his head. 

All three brothers were in proper winter clothes unlike him where he only had his academy coat, scarf, and gloves. They never really needed more as kids since the only time they were out was for missions.

"Where are we going?" Ben asked Diego as he laughed at Klaus trying to get all the icy cold snow off himself before it melted.

"We're gonna take this one sledding. I don't think he's been sledding ever in his life," Diego pointed to him as the four and Mr.Pennycrumb walked to Diego's car.

"When did I decide I wanted to go Sledding with your guys," Five opened the passenger door and slipped in.

"You didn't, your 13-"

"58!"

"Whatever," Diego sighed and started the car.

"What I'm trying to say Five, is you should enjoy doing normal kid things for once in your life," Five clicked his seat belt on while he overheard the other two bickerings at each other in the back.

"I don't need to do kid things because I'm not a kid Diego." Despite his protest, Diego already pulled his car out of the academy and down the street. The ride didn't last more than 15 minutes but it felt longer than that. Klaus insisted on playing Christmas music on the radio the whole way and annoyingly singing along. 

Five quickly blinked out of the car as soon as it came to a stop not bothering with the seatbelt or door. They were around some hills that were covered in the cold white substance and bare trees here and there. Five recognised the area as it was close to Ymir's café. He often hopped on the metro around the corner to come home from the café because of his siblings' protest to using his powers in public. Klaus and Ben followed out of the car as The engine stopped and Diego came out as well. 

Ben stepped next to Five as Diego called Klaus over to help him with something,"It's so pretty."  
Five couldn't understand what they found "fun" about being freezing cold and being around something that was even colder. His breath turned icy as he exhaled or when they talked which also made it harder to breathe.

Klaus returned beside him and Ben with a large red plastic sled. Five knew the general idea around it but he had never been sledding before. They were always restricted from those activities, often more focused on their training or whatever test was being run on them.

"So how do we get up there?" He turned to Diego while Klaus answered instead.

"We climb!" Klaus' ever enthusiastic attitude was making Five regret letting them drag him along. The siblings picked on him calling him a 'Grinch' or 'scrooge' which Five ended up having to look up or one of them explain to him what it meant. Klaus insisted on wanting to show him exactly what he meant but he would rather jump in an almost frozen pond then watch a movie with Klaus. 

Five blinked to the top of the hill where he heard Klaus complaining from the ground. From that height he could see what Ben was saying about it being beautiful. Every surface was covered with snow and some places had icicles hanging down. He could see past the trees and normally large buildings to the rest of the area.

Eventually Klaus flopped up on top of the hill followed by Diego and Ben.

"Five you're always cheating," Klaus whined as he threw himself down on the snow. They looked towards Klaus as he started making a snow angel. Ben threw the sled on Klaus which he yelped and moved away from. 

"BEN! I could have died!" Ben rolled his eyes while Diego pulled Klaus off the ground. Ben grabbed the sled and placed it in the center of the hill they were on.

"Go Five," he cocked an eyebrow at Ben as he pulled Mr.Pennycrumb closer to him. How was he supposed to know what to do, and trust his siblings to push him DOWN a hill. The same siblings he could barely trust to make a sandwich without burning down the house.

"Klaus can go first," he stepped back and Klaus approached him.

"Awwww our little Fivey is scared," Klaus wrapped his long lanky arms around Five as he tried to shove him off. 

"I'm NOT scared you idiot," He wiggled out of Klaus' grip.

"Yeah yeah, mi hermano," Klaus sat down in the sled as Ben pushed him down the hill where he slowly came to a stop.

"See, it's safe if Klaus did it and didn't die." Diego gestured to Klaus who was struggling climbing back up the hill.

"I mean He's immortal so he could actually have supposed to die but didn't so-."

"Five get on the stupid sled," Ben laughed at the both of them as Klaus reached the top of the hill.

"Come on Five, I promise it's not scary," Klaus poked him and tried to sneak his arms around his sides to tickle him.

Five quickly moved away and hid behind Ben, "I can go with you if you want?" Ben muttered quietly to Five as he glared at Klaus.

"Fine," he handed Mr.Pennycrumb over to Klaus to hold before climbing in front of Ben on the sled. He pulled his knees to his chest as he sat down and could feel Ben's hand on his shoulder.

"Ready?" Diego asked the both of them. Ben tapped his shoulder and got his attention, his eyebrows were raised in a questioning manner as Five nodded his head to say 'yes'.

In a split second he felt Ben's grip tighten a bit on his shoulder as he gripped his knees more. Gravity was pulling on them as they raced down the hill. The icy air rushed past them while his heart began to race.

Things slowed as the area around them stopped whizzing by. He felt Ben's hand leave his shoulder as he stood in front him.

"See, your okay," Ben was bending down at his waist and supporting his upper body with his arm against his leg. The other hand was outstretched in front of Five who was sat on the ground.

He let his smaller hand fall into Ben's as the elder pulled him to his feet. He looked up and the two others were looking down at them from the top of the hill.

Maybe this was going to be more fun than Five had anticipated.

A couple of hours passed that he, Klaus, and Ben played in the snow along with Mr.Pennycrumb while Diego watched and constantly answered phone calls.

"Ooo why are you so popular today Di," Klaus asked after Diego hung up his phone from what it seemed like the 10 phone call in the past hour.

"Just something happened with the case we're still investigating, don't worry…...ugh," his phone started to ring again as he pulled it back out of his pocket.

"Nevermind it's Vanya," They heard him say hi to their sister while Klaus turned back towards them.

"Initiate the plan to surprise Diego while he's distracted," Klaus bent down on his knees and started gathering snow in his hand.

"We never made a plan, how are we supposed to initiate it?" Klaus gave him a look that he often gave when nobody understood his jokes or references.

"It's a saying Fivey you old man," his brother continued to pile snow into his hands while both him and Ben watched.

"We could just lure him over here then push him down the hill like we did to you earlier." Ben suggested while Klaus paused his snow collecting.

"I thought you said that was an accident, You jerk!" Klaus yelled at both him and Ben as they laughed at his realisation. 

Ben pointed over to Diego who put down his Phone and stuck it back in his. Klaus stood up and started waving his arms towards the elder brother.

"Yoo-hoo Diego!" Diego looked over at all of them and Klaus signaled for him to come over to them. He walked over and stopped in front of Klaus, both him and Ben had moved slightly back away from Klaus because of what he was planning.

Klaus was standing straight up with a too suspicious smile on his face and his hands gathered together behind his back like he was hiding something.

"Yes…?" Diego gave Klaus a confused look as he glanced towards him and Ben, eyes flickering towards Klaus as to say ' what's this about'.

"Well Diego, our beloved older brother we wanted too….." Before Five could register what happened Klaus was beginning to tumble down the hill. Diego, who they all know is probably the best out of all of them when it comes to hand to hand combat, quickly flipped Klaus around when he tried to push him down the hill. 

Five also didn't realise Klaus had grabbed out for something and that something happened to be his jacket. 

'Fuck'

Mr.Pennycrumb jumped out of his arms as he was pulled down with Klaus to the bottom of the hill. Snow covered his head and got caught in the cotton of his clothing as some of it began to melt in. Klaus laid sprawled out in front of him, and laughing filled the air which he could only match to him. Everything was spinning as he tried to sit up from spinning down the hill. Using what was near him to grab onto he grabbed onto what felt like a rock. 

He gasped as he yanked his hand away, the edge was sharp and he now has a gash in the center of his palm. The blood leaked down his hand and fell onto the snow as the smell of the fresh snow and his blood mixed in the air. He froze and he didn't know why as he watched each drop of blood drop down.

'he's seen this before' 

Winter, the winter was always the worst in the apocalypse. Snow mixed with ashes from the sky fell leaving it a brown color more than the pristine white he's seen before. One day, very early on, in the first snow that came, he had found a can of fruit to eat. He hadn't eaten in almost 2 days and every time he made a fire it'd almost instantly go out. So any food or meals that require heat were out the window in an instant, leaving him looking for other substitutes. Of course to open the can he needed a sharp object to pierce the metal seal. He got his hands on a rather sharp knife and there he sat hacking away trying to get to the sweet food sitting in the can.

He lost his grip on the knife after 5 minutes of trying to open the can and the knife slipped. His right hand that was holding the can in place got caught in the crossfire and was sliced from the middle of his palm up between his thumb and forefinger. He instantly tried to find something to stop the bleeding but it quickly dripped down his hand and arm, under him where he was sitting outside the abandoned library. It dripped and pooled on the snow, melting slightly from the warm liquid coming into contact with the small snowflakes.

"Hey!" 

He blinked his eyes a couples of times as he realised what was going on around him. His hand that was cut was being held tightly in someone else's hand and a material was wrapped around it. The drops of blood on the snow still laid in front of him as he noticed all three brothers gathered around him. Ben's hand was the one covering his, off to his left while Klaus stood behind Diego who was crouched in front of him.

"Hey, bud you with us?…… Klaus was down here for a hot minute trying to get you to respond to him." Five was sitting on the snow still looking up at Diego despite him crouching down to his level.

His eyes wandered as the cloth wrapped around his hand grew tighter. Ben had tied whatever he had around his hand and was looking at Five worriedly.

"Five" 

He looked back over towards Diego, "Come on, let's go home so we can wrap up that hand." He pulled Five to his feet by his non-injured hand and started walking to the car. Five still didn't say anything as he was dragged to Diego's car, Ben and Klaus right behind him as he felt their eyes on him every little step he took. 

They approached the car and he slid into the passenger's seat while the other three sat in their rightful place. He just wanted to blink home and not have the worry about him from his siblings. The quick ride passed as they all excited the car and walked into the house.

"Hey, how was the snow," Vanya was there as soon as they came in. She probably got home early from rehearsal and that's why she was on the phone with Diego.

"Cold"

Five slipped into the house and took off his winter clothes at the door, hanging the items up. Vanya laughed as he made his way in front of the fire sitting on the floor. He was shivering but didn't feel like grabbing a blanket until he felt one being draped over his shoulders. 

Ben sat down in front of him with gauze and other items as he gestured to his injured hand. Five reluctantly put it out towards him as he untied the cloth and started treating the wound. As Ben was wrapping the gauze he reached his hand out to touch his cheek.

"I think you got a little bit of frostbite Five." He brought his non-injured hand up to his cheek to touch it. It was sensitive but aside from that Five didn't even take it into consideration that he did get frostbite.

He saw Ben gesture over to one of the siblings and Diego appeared beside them, "What's up?" Ben gestured to his cheek and Diego bent down to take a closer look at it, "It looks like the beginning of frostbite, nothing too bad just hold a warm compress to it but not for too long." 

Diego disappeared then reappeared holding a small blue jelly pack and bent down placing it to Five's cheek. Ben finished bandaging up his hand as Five held the hot compress with his other hand.

Ben stayed there in front of the fireplace with him while they could hear Diego lecturing a laughing Klaus about something. His head started leaning to the side as all the exhaustion from today mixed with the warm fire made him drowsy. He felt Ben's arm wrap around his shoulders as his eyes closed and his head rested on what he also thought was Ben.

Despite the apocalypse and the constant reminders of what he'd been through every time he came back home.

To his family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk where I got this idea from but I think it might have been another fanfic...maybe or something else.
> 
> Also if my description of snow and stuff it wierd it is because I have only seen snow maybe 4-5 times in my whole life XDXD AND usually it's only enough snow to stick to the ground but them melt in a couple hours 🤣 
> 
> Anyways thank for reading, comment and tell me all your secrets mwahahah.....okay not really but comment if you want to and leave Kudos again if you want to....and most of all Have an amazing day!!!
> 
> ~~~~~~VirusError🌸


	3. She Gets Mad If There All Gone Before She Puts The Icing On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baking Christmas cookies🍪🍪🎄

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from- Christmas Cookies by George Strait
> 
> Okay here we go again 
> 
> "On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree"
> 
> Omg this is gonna get very long by like day 6 XD
> 
> Also I have set up a place so that anyone can donate to the Thanksmas fundraiser going on......None of this goes to me, it immediately goes to the charity and all it's causes.......
> 
> https://donate.tiltify.com/@viruserror/thankmas-2020-fundraiser-ao3-viruserror
> 
> Whala!! So if you can spare one dollar or ten anything helps.....I believe it's opened until the 20th so anytime you can spare a couple of dollars this is the place to donate it too. Thank you

Five(POV) 

A hand reached forward and threaded the stem of the flower behind Five's ear as he turned the page of his book.

Cosmic Fragments by Heraclitus, the librarian recommended it to him from what he always gets there and he was halfway through with it.

"Lupine or as always Lupinus if you wanna sound all snazzy," Lottie laughed and dropped her hand back under her chin.

"It symbolizes happiness, creativity, and imagination," Five grabbed it from behind his ear and held it between his fingers as he looked at it. The bright pink hue almost made Five think it was fake, while the one laced behind Lottie's ear was a dark purple. 

Five smiled a little up at her as she stood up grabbing her book off the light brown wooden table, "I'll grab your bill for you." Five stood up and grabbed the book he had been reading having finished his coffee a couple of minutes ago he and Lottie were just wasting time. As he pushed in his chair she returned with her light blue apron on again and the slip of paper in her hand.

The big number 5 was written in light blue ink at the top of the paper circled where the name was supposed to be. The words "His Norm" and a winky face were written on the order section while the normal price of a dollar and eight cents was scribbled at the bottom. On the blank part of the slip of paper the flower she had today was drawn in purple pen and the words "happiness, creativity, and imagination" were scrawled under it neatly.

Five handed her the money as he took the slip with his order in his hand and slipped it in his pocket. She started walking towards the door in which he followed like he does every time.

"The 17th are you gonna be busy?" She stepped in front of him and asked the question with her hands behind her back.

"Um no…..why?" They both met eye to eye, which Five never noticed that she was slightly taller than him.

"There's something I wanna take you too,.....well somewhere really, but are you up for it," She smiled, reaching out and pulling open the door for him.

He slipped on his coat and stared at her for longer than anticipated, "Yeah I… I am." His gaze shifted down as his gloves as he met her eyes, nodding his head.

Her eyes wrinkled up slightly as her smile grew at him, "Alrighty it's a date then text you the details!"

"W-wait….date?!" Before Five could finish she pushed him out the door and waved at him. She flashed him a huge grin and switched the sign hanging on the door to 'close'. Mr.Pennycrumb looked up at him as Lottie turned around and sauntered back over to the counter as they finished closing up.

The day was drowning dark as he stepped out into the still icy weather. His breath became a cloud of white as he exhaled while the melting snow crunched under his feet. He approached the bus stop which was down the street from the café, even though it was only a 15-20 minute walk to the house everyone insisted him take the bus instead of walking home alone. He wanted to use his powers but he knew better when it was in a crowded area of people.

The metro pulled to a stop in front of him as he stepped up and handed his card over to the man. He swiped it, returning it to Five as the bus got ready to move. He stayed standing with Mr.Pennycrumb beside him as it was only about a 5 minute ride. 

People with plastic and paper bags in hand were all occupying the bus while some had small children bundled up in warm winter clothes. A girl and a guy both approached him both with side bags filled full of what looked like paper.

"Hey, your Vanya's little brother right?" The girl spoke to him. She had shoulder length dark brown hair that was curled. Her eyes were a light green and her skin was light and fair.

Five nodded his head, "do I know you?" He knew his tone of voice sounded rude but he didn't care.

She shook her head, "no, but Vanya tells us all about her siblings, we play with her in the local orchestra…I'm Melanie and this is Skylar." She pointed to the guy next to her. He had short curly black hair with brown eyes that were rimmed with thick black frames.

He lifted his hand and waved at Five while Melanie kept talking, "We didn't want to bother but can you give this to your sister?" She pulled out a red bag with a sparkly bow on it from her side bag.

"I forgot to give it to her at rehearsal yesterday," Five grabbed it as she handed it over to him. Before he could answer the Metro came to a stop across the street from the Academy.

"I'll tell her it's from you," he hurriedly spit out his words as he ran off the bus Mr.Pennycrumb on his heels. As the bus began to move she waved at him from inside almost like saying thank you.

He quickly crossed the street and opened the door to the Academy, slipping in before closing the door behind him. He shrugged off his jacket and scarf hanging them up on the rack before moving through the too quiet house. He could have sworn everyone was going to be home today.

He made his way up the main staircase after checking the living room and headed towards the siblings bedrooms. He paused at the Staircase going down to the kitchen area as he heard giggling. Going down and entering the kitchen he saw both his sisters and Diego in there.

"Five! Perfect timing we were about to make cookies." He discarded his gloves on the kitchen table while his siblings pulled on aprons offering a smaller one to Five.

"Why don't you get the others to bake cookies with you," Five complained as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. A text from Lottie popped up with where she wanted to take him too.

"The others are busy-," Allison began before Diego cut in.

"And by busy she means Klaus is with Dave, Ben went out to some book store and Luther is being-OW!" 

Vanya punched Diego in the arm, "Luther is working on some documents he found a bit ago." Vanya finished the sentence as she moved the apron more towards Five.

"Please," Vanya mouthed to him. He rolled his eyes and snatched the apron out of her hands, "if this ends up like the last time we all baked something together I'm leaving." 

"That was bread Five, this is cookies and much easier to bake," Diego said as he looked at the small red bag in Five's hand.

"What's with the gift, is it from your little girlfriend." Five glared at Diego, "she's NOT my girlfriend, and it's actually for Vanya….some girl named Melanie said to give it to you." He held it out to Vanya as she grabbed it with a smile and looked at the card tied to it.

She set it back on the table, "did you run into her somewhere?" Five finished tying the apron around his waist as he approached the others.

"The bus, she was with some other guy named Skylar….I think." Diego started moving around the kitchen collecting ingredients and whatever else they needed for the cookies.

Vanya glanced at the gift then placed it on the table next to Five's discarded gloves, "hm? wonder why they were around this area." She turned back towards them and reached for the glass bowls and utensils.

"Here start with the dry ingredients then move onto the wet ones, it's two batches so you guys can work on one and me and Al will work on the other." Diego handed him and Vanya glass jars full of white powder with labels on it. Baking soda, all-purpose flour, and salt was in front of both of them as well as small metal measuring cups and a glass measuring cup too.

Five waited for Vanya to make the first move which she never did leaving them both staring at the ingredients and the bowl in front of them. 

'he's never made cookies before!'

"You know the recipe's right there." Diego pointed to a card with all the ingredients and their measurements written down.

"We totally….. didn't know that." Vanya grabbed the card as she handed the measuring cups to Five. 

"Two cups and a fourth of flour," Five measured it out, handing it to Vanya as she dumped it into the glass bowl.

"Do we need to sift this?" She questioned Diego as Five wiped his hands he had somehow gotten flour on already on his apron.

Diego chuckled lightly, "You probably should so you don't bite into a chunk of flour later when you add the wet ingredients." 

"Oh…….I blame Five." She smiled pointing at him next to her as she grabbed a different bowl to place a sift on top of.

"Me!? You're the one giving me the instructions." He quickly picked up the bowl with the flour in it and dumped it into the sift laying on top of the new bowl she grabbed.

"Guys……," Allison looked over at them as Diego was laughing at them. Five rolled his eyes as he reached for the baking powder, "How much of this V?" 

"A half of a teaspoon." She was giggling at him as he tried to find the right measurement.

"What the heck is the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon?' 

He remembers having to memorize what proper silverware to use and for what dish when they were growing up but he never bothered to do so. He probably should have sorta paid attention.

'oh well' 

He handed Vanya half of whatever one he picked doing eeny, meeny, miny, mo then grabbed the next ingredient which was the salt.

"One fourth teaspoon of salt." She held out her hand as she waited for him.

'oh great another teaspoon, tablespoon thing……..which one did he use for the salt?' 

"Need help over there Five?" Diego called over as him and Allison were already mixing all their dry and wet ingredients.

"I'm fine Diego." He handed Vanya a fourth of whatever's measurement where she dumped it into the sift and started to sift it into the bowl.

He started to grab all their wet ingredients as she finished mixing all the dry ingredients together and pushed it aside. They switched roles this time which Five was grateful for as he dumped whatever ingredients she handed him into the bowl.

He placed the butter into the electric mixer as Vanya turned it on and put it on the correct setting. She at least had a little experience when cooking compared to him that didn't have any aside from how to heat up things over a Fire.

Five eventually threw in the sugar followed by an egg which he may or may not have broken the shell into the batter. Then finally the vanilla and almond extract.

Vanya slowly added the dry ingredients as Five began to mix everything together with a rubber spatula. Diego and Allison were already done with rolling out the dough and we're waiting for him and Vanya to finish their half.

They laid it out on the countertop that Vanya had littered with flour as Five took a piece of the raw cookie dough and ate it.

"Five, it's raw." Five stuck another small piece in his mouth smirking at Diego and his warning. Diego rolled his eyes at Five as he handed him a rolling pin.

Vanya handed him little Christmas shaped metal cookie cutters and they pressed them into the raw cookie dough getting small shapes cut out.

"Here, Five come help me make this." Five wiped off his hands and went over to Diego's side, peeking over at what he had.

"It's the icing, just pour all the ingredients in and stir." Diego had already measured everything out in small seperate bowls as he slipped on some oven mitts. He grabbed one of the trays that both sisters were placing the cookies on and placed it in the oven then grabbed the other from Allison and did the same.

He started pouring all the separate ingredients in the small bowls to the much larger bowl. He started to stir and it turned into this creamy white consistency that smelled of sugar. He took the spatula out once Diego told him it was mixed enough and licked the frosting off of it.

"Why are you always eating anything and everything sweet you can get your hands on?" Diego laughed at him as Five sat beside him off the table licking the frosting.

He shrugged his shoulders and the girls laughed too, "I mean he has practically eaten all the candy canes off the tree and it's only been up a couple of days."

"It's there, it's not like there gonna eat themselves." Five placed the rubber spatula in the sink and sat back down at the table where they were waiting for the cookies to bake.

Diego chuckled a little and slightly shook his head, "come here, bud." Diego grabbed a small cloth and rubbed the corner of Five's mouth before he could register what he was doing.

"You had frosting on your face." He tossed the cloth back on the counter as Five ran his hand over his mouth making sure none was left over.

Vanya grabbed the present she had discarded on the table and started to open it, "apparently she doesn't want me to wait for Christmas." She placed her phone down having probably sent Melanie a text.

The red and white tissue paper was thrown on the kitchen table as she pulled out a single card and read it. Her face got rosey and a wide smile grew on her face.

"Did someone just get asked out on a date?" Allison nudged Vanya as she held the card reading it over and over.

"....Maybe." she pursed her lips together to try to stop the ever growing smile on her face as the others smiled at her.

"Tell me the details." Allison was probably about as happy as Vanya was as she read the card ment for the youngest sister.

As Five peeked Over Diego's shoulder to read the card that he was a messenger for, his phone rang and Lottie's contact popped up with the message she sent. He saw Diego's eyes flicker towards it before he could grab it quick enough.

"Looks like Vanya isn't the only one going on a date, huh Five?" Diego nudged him much like Allison did while he felt his face grow warm.

"It's not a date! she just wants to go somewhere as friends...and yeah." He heard a gasp from Allison, "how come I'm the only one not going on a date." 

Diego and Vanya laughed as Five sent a text back to Lottie. "If it makes it any better Luther and Ben aren't seeing anyone either." Allison gave him a look that he very well knew what it meant.

"Luther has been on the moon for the past 4 years and Ben has been dead for the past 13 years….I don't think intimacy is their top priority." They all agreed at Diego's statement as he got up to check on the cookies in the oven.

"And you know the whole 'Luther still probably in love with you' is still a thing." Allison looked at Vanya while him and Diego nodded their heads.

"Yeah the whole incest thing you guys had going on through all our teen years." 

"It's technically not incest, Diego." 

"If you have to say technically Allison it is in one way or form definitely incest." Vanya and Diego laughed at his comment to Allison as she sighed.

"He has a point Al, it's kinda weird for me to call you guys my little or younger siblings then go make out with one of you." Diego looked at Allison as Five realised something.

"Also ALL through your guy's teen years…..what did I miss of that?" 

"Oh you only got the very top of the iceberg, Five there was a lot and I mean-." 

"Diego!" 

"Okay, okay," Diego's hands were raised in the air as he leaned on the back of Five's chair. Vanya stood up from her chair as the timer for the cookies went off signaling they were done. Diego grabbed them from the oven sitting them on top of the stove top.

"Give it 5 minutes then we can ice them, for now we can start separating and dying the icing." He covered the cookies with a towel and pushed them aside so they all had more room for the icing. Five still had hesitations about how much salt and baking powder he added in earlier, so he hoped no one tasted one of those once they cooled.

Vanya handed him the blue and green food coloring and the piping bags as they divided up the royal frosting into smaller sections.

"So did you say yes to your little date offer?" Allison asked Vanya as she began to mix the red batch.

"Ummmm….. I'm not sure what to respond, it seems every time I end up in a relationship it turns out wrong or I have to leave." 

Five felt bad when she mentioned having to leave relationships, knowing he was the cause of it.

"I mean Diego's met her right? And he didn't mention anything about her being a psycho serial killer or anything…...and we can always make him run a background check on her." Allison nudged Diego in the arm playfully.

"Nonononono I don't think Diego needs to run a background check on her." Five laughed slightly at remembering having the same talk with Diego wanting to run a background check on Lottie.

"She's 13!.....well almost 14' 

"He'll probably still do it without you knowing." Five started pouring the icing into the piping bags as Vanya gave Diego a pleading look.

"Diego….please don't." He shrugged his shoulders as she laughed and gave an exasperated groan.

Diego walked over and uncovered the cookies as he placed one pan in front of the two girls and the other in front of Five, "I heard the door I'm gonna go see who it is." 

Diego disappeared as he ran out of the kitchen, "he's so protective over us." Vanya said when she was sure he was gone out of the kitchen.

"You just noticed," Five said sarcastically grabbing the red frosting, gliding it over the cookie.

"I mean he's always been like that especially with you two, Klau and Ben." They knew Allison was right, ever since they were little he always acted the same with them.

They continued to frost the cookies, as they waited for Diego to come back which took longer than they expected. He came into the kitchen running a hand through his hair with an envelope in his hand before he tossed it on the table. 

"Everything alright?" Diego looked up at Allison from where his stare was glued to the envelope.

"Yeah just……. Another kid just went missing and it's connected to this case we've been on for months." Five knew the case by now because of Diego probably being MORE over protective of him since he found out the targets of the guy.

"Do you have to go in?" Five didn't mean the words to come out like he wanted Diego to stay but they most definitely did.

"Yeah Eudora said they found a piece of evidence, that might just lead us closer to this bastard." Diego grabbed his phone and the envelope before speaking again, "Five don't leave the house anymore today and if you do someone has to go with you." 

Five rolled his eyes, "I'm very much capable of defending myself Diego." Diego grabbed his shoulder more harsh than his usual touch and turned Five towards him.

"Five, I'm serious, just stay home tonight." He looked at Five with a gaze that he knew too well not to take him seriously. He nodded his head as Diego kissed his forehead before walking over and hugging both sisters.

"I'll probably be back sometime late at night, don't eat all the cookies Five." Five shrugged his shoulders as he finished icing the last two cookies on his plate. 

Diego rolled his eyes, "make sure he eats dinner first before eating 20 cookies," he half whispered to Allison as he walked out of the kitchen.

"I'm not a kid, Diego." He licked some blue frosting off his thumb as he set the plate down on the table.

"Yeah yeah okay you're a teen, I don't think the title makes much of a difference though." Diego laughed as he exited the kitchen.

'whatever' 

With all the talking and chattering they didn't hear the front door opening and bare feet against the tiled floor make their way into the kitchen. Klaus sat on the table with a 'thump' making the three remaining siblings turn around.

"Geezus Klaus you're always scaring us." Vanya held her chest as she sat down in one of the chairs and picked up a cookie. Five and Allison did the same as Klaus picked up a cookie for himself.

"You guys baked cookies without me, how dare you." His usual dramatic faux pretend sadness was interrupted.

"Yeah so you didn't get a whole bag of flour all over the kitchen and one of us." Five bit onto the cookie expecting the worse but was instead met with a sweet sugary taste and the creamy icing.

"Hey! That was one time and it was Ben's fault for sneaking up behind me." Five watched as both sisters bit into their cookies, expecting a disgusted face but instead they kept eating it.

'Maybe he didn't mess up?'

Five grabbed another one from the opposite side of the plate and bit into it but still got the same taste, not salt and baking powder. He deemed that he made it right until Klaus finally bit into his cookie.

"Bleh, how are you guys eating these?" Klaus got up and grabbed a water from the fridge washing the taste out of his mouth. Vanya and Allison gave him a weird glance and grabbed another cookie biting into it.

"These taste perfectly fine to me." Allison nodded her head in approval as Five tried to hold back a smile.

"I mean if Five's eating them they at least have to be decent." Five didn't make any comment and just continued to nibble on the cookie in his hand.

"What does it taste like anyways?" 

'oh no' 

"Salt, lots of salt" 

whoops…...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the recipe that their using for the sugar cookies if anyone wants to bake them.
> 
> Cookie dough  
> 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, slightly softened to room temperature  
> 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar  
> 1 large egg*  
> 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract  
> 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but makes the flavor outstanding)  
> 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spoon and leveled)  
> 1/2 teaspoon baking powder  
> 1/4 teaspoon salt
> 
> Royal frosting
> 
> 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) confectioners’ sugar  
> 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract  
> 1 teaspoon light corn syrup*  
> 2 – 2.5 Tablespoons (30-38ml) room temperature water  
> pinch salt*
> 
> I baked a lot but I'm not sure if I've made this recipe before it was in my notes so I think I might have......
> 
> ~~~~~VirusError🌸


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